Coupons have become an integral strategy for advertising and marketing products to consumers. Unfortunately, the number of coupons redeemed is exceedingly small; e.g., for coupons distributed via newspapers and magazines, the percentage of redeemed coupons is estimated to be about 2.4%. Further, there are substantial problems with regard to the distribution and redemption of coupons for both the distributors of coupons and the retailers who are required to redeem coupons.
From a coupon distributor's perspective, the following problems are encountered:
(1.1) Due, at least in part, to the large number of unused coupons, there is substantial opportunity for fraud wherein unused coupons are presented to the coupon distributor for reimbursement; PA1 (1.2) The cost per redeemed coupon is high. This is due in part to the low redemption percentage, but also due to coupon handling charges by, for example, retailers and coupon clearing houses; PA1 (1.3) It is difficult to target coupons to specific consumers. For example, coupons in newspapers and magazines are generally distributed to all subscribers; PA1 (1.4) Coupon distribution is not conveniently related to product purchases. That is, coupons are likely to be received by the consumer at almost any other time than when they would be most beneficial, which is immediately before the choice of a product for purchase. PA1 (2.1) There can be a substantial delay between the acceptance of coupons for redemption and when the retailer is compensated for the coupons accepted. Thus, the retailer experiences a constraint on cash flow; PA1 (2.2) There is a cost overhead in handling redeemed coupons incurred by the retailer. For example, redeemed coupons must be collected, bundled and sent to coupon clearing houses.
From a retailer's perspective, the following problems are encountered:
From a consumer's perspective there is, in general, insufficient motivation to use coupons since the time and effort required for perusing advertisements to extract desired coupons and subsequently coordinating purchases with the extracted coupons is beyond what most consumers will do.
Thus, it would be advantageous if the above difficulties could be addressed with a single coupon generation and redemption system. Toward this end, the coupon system of the present invention addresses the above difficulties, as will be described below.